Public Comment in Laramie for Rocky Mountain Power Rate Hike

Your power bill is going to increase substantially. Wyoming legislators are looking for ways to ease the upcoming blow of a series of rate increases set to hit Wyoming customers starting in January. 

One of those increases is by Rocky Mountain Power, which has applied to the Wyoming Public Service Commission (PSC) to increase customer rates by almost 30% beginning in 2024.

Before they increase your power bills, though, Governor Mark Gordon has demanded the PSC hold more opportunities for the public to comment. Laramie’s opportunity is this Monday, Sept. 25, at 5:30 p.m.

People may attend in person at the City of Laramie’s Municipal Operations Center at 4373 N. 3rd St., or by Zoom (link here) or by phone call: 1-669-900-9128 or 1-253-215-8782 (Meeting ID:993 344 9233).

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This is the biggest rate hike RMP has proposed in over a decade. The company is citing fluctuating energy costs for the hike; in a press release from this spring the company said, “Extreme weather events and drought conditions” in the west continue to have “significant impacts on wholesale power prices.”

“This proposal is notable for the people of Wyoming, and I support the effort to make sure there is as much public engagement as possible ahead of any decision. I applaud the PSC for adding even more public meetings to its schedule in impacted communities,” said Governor Gordon in a press release last month.

The PSC is an independent agency and is not under the control of the Governor’s Office. However, Governor Gordon is confident the Commission will conduct its due diligence and will make a determination in accordance with its statutory duty, which requires that increased costs to RMP be balanced with the best interests of RMP’s Wyoming consumers. 

The PSC will make a determination by the end of the year.

Some legislators believe the rate hikes are due to RMP’s parent company, PacifiCorp, subsidizing clean energy in states like California. For more on RMP’s request to the Wyoming Public Service Commission and how the two rate hikes which total 29.2 percent are justified according to the company which profits hundreds of millions each year, see the story here.